Army PTSD veteran dies after being tasered by police

An Iraq and Afghanistan veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder has died after being shot with a police taser outside his home.

An independent investigation has begun after Spencer Beynon, a former corporal in the Royal Welsh Regiment, collapsed and died in Llanelli.

Police were called to the home of the 43-year-old on Tuesday night after neighbours called saying he appeared to be injured and they were worried about his behaviour and welfare.

Spencer Beynon, a former corporal in the British ARmy, died after being hit by a police taser

Neighbours described how he had stabbed his beloved dog with a kitchen knife before turning the blade on himself.

Officers fired a taser, which are used to incapacitate suspects with up to 50,000 volts, and he collapsed in the street and died.

Halder Monteiro, 43, said: "I could see a guy in the street who looked totally out of it. He didn't seem himself, as if he wasn't there. He just had this look in his eyes. You could tell he wasn't acting rationally.

"He then started hitting his head against a window several times and looked to be holding a dog in his arms.

"After police used the Taser he fell to the floor and the dog he was carrying was crawling on its back legs. It looked injured."

Mr Beynon had suffered from PTSD after seeing a number of comrades killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and was himself badly injured in a bomb blast in Helmand in 2010.

His niece, Georgia, said: “My uncle was a truly an amazing man. Absolutely everyone loved him and I know he is going to be missed by so many.

"No one will ever understand how much he has been through, but he is in a safe, happy place now.”

Mr Beynon struggled with coming out of the Army, his friends said, and had turned to smoking large amounts of cannabis to try to cope with his PTSD and injuries.

Cllr Robert Davies, 61, said: "It is very sad. He was a nice guy, always had time to say hello, very pleasant. He was always with his dog.

"I think he found it hard coming out of the army. So many of our soldiers who serve their country are forgotten about.”

Speaking to a local paper in 2007 after returning from a tour in Iraq, he said he had found it at times a “very, very scary place to be”.

He said: "Unfortunately there were casualties and losses of lives which will affect the battalion and all who knew our friends and colleagues that passed away and it will affect us for a long time yet.”

Mr Beynon was diagnosed with PTSD after leaving the Army and was arrested in 2012 for having a knuckle-duster.

In 2013, he was found guilty of possessing cannabis, and a year later police found 17 plants growing in the garage at his home. The court heard he was using up to half an ounce of cannabis a day to cope with his PTSD.

His solicitor told the court he “suffers greatly”.

A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission said Dyfed Powys Police were “called out by a member of the public who was concerned about the behaviour and welfare of a man who appeared to be injured”.

"Officers attended and during engagement with the man, it is understood Taser was discharged.

"The man became unresponsive and was subsequently pronounced dead. The IPCC has begun an independent investigation."